Government officials were tight-lipped yesterday about Prime Minister Hun Sen’s latest health complication, which a senior CPP lawmaker said had caused the premier to seek medical treatment in Singapore.
This is the second time in less than a month that Mr Hun Sen has reportedly sought medical treatment–coming after he was diagnosed with AH1N1 influenza in late June.
CPP lawamaker Cheam Yeap said yesterday that Mr Hun Sen had visited doctors in Singapore for an “eye problem” since recovering from the AH1N1 virus last week.
“He is sick [with an eye problem], so he had his last medical check in Singapore,” Mr Yeap said, adding that the problem was related to the premier’s left eye, which he lost in battle in 1975.
Mr Yeap said he did not have further details about the premier’s medical problem.
Defense Minister Tea Banh confirmed yesterday that Mr Hun Sen had a problem with his eye, but said the premier was still in Cambodia.
“He is in the country,” Gen Banh said. “There is no problem now.”
Prak Sokhonn, secretary of state at the Council of Ministers, also said yesterday that Mr Hun Sen was in Cambodia.
“He is at his house…. Where else could he be?” Mr Sokhonn said, before declining to answer questions about the premier’s health.
The premier’s cabinet chief Ho Sothy could not be reached yesterday, while deputy cabinet chief Lim Leang Se said he had not heard about the premier’s eye problem, before hanging up on a reporter.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, who said last Tuesday that Mr Hun Sen had almost recovered from the AH1N1 virus, said he was too busy to speak to a reporter when contacted yesterday.
Before his AH1N1 diagnosis was announced last month, the prime minister missed two significant engagements due to illness-a ceremony marking the founding of the ruling party and a scheduled meeting with UN human rights envoy Surya Subedi.
(Additional reporting by Mark Worley)
